wake1

to become roused from sleep; awake; awaken; waken (often followed by up).

2.

to become roused from a tranquil or inactive state; awaken; waken:

to wake from one's daydreams.

3.

to become cognizant or aware of something; awaken; waken:

to wake to the true situation.

4.

to be or continue to be awake:

Whether I wake or sleep, I think of you.

5.

to remain awake for some purpose, duty, etc.:

I will wake until you return.

6.

to hold a wake over a corpse.

7.

to keep watch or vigil.

verb (used with object), waked or woke, waked or woken, waking.

8.

to rouse from sleep; awake; awaken; waken (often followed by up):

Don't wake me for breakfast. Wake me up at six o'clock.

9.

to rouse from lethargy, apathy, ignorance, etc. (often followed by up):

The tragedy woke us up to the need for safety precautions.

10.

to hold a wake for or over (a dead person).

11.

to keep watch or vigil over.

noun

12.

a watching, or a watch kept, especially for some solemn or ceremonial purpose.

13.

a watch or vigil by the body of a dead person before burial, sometimes accompanied by feasting or merrymaking.

14.

a local annual festival in England, formerly held in honor of the patron saint or on the anniversary of the dedication of a church but now usually having little or no religious significance.

15.

the state of being awake:

between sleep and wake.

Origin

before 900; (v.) in sense “to become awake” continuing Middle Englishwaken,Old English*wacan (found only in past tense wōc and the compounds onwacan, āwacan to become awake; see awake (v.)); in sense “to be awake” continuing Middle Englishwaken,Old Englishwacian (cognate with Old Frisianwakia,Old Saxonwakōn,Old Norsevaka,Gothicwakan); in sense “to rouse from sleep” continuing Middle Englishwaken, replacing Middle Englishwecchen,Old Englishweccan, probably altered by association with the other senses and with the k of Old Norsevaka; (noun) Middle English: state of wakefulness, vigil (late Middle English: vigil over a dead body), probably continuing Old English*wacu (found only in nihtwacu night-watch); all ultimately < Germanic*wak- be lively; akin to watch, vegetable, vigil

wake-up

(Austral, informal) be a wake-up to, to be fully alert to (a person, thing, action, etc)

wake1

/weɪk/

verb wakes, waking, woke, woken

1.

(often foll by up) to rouse or become roused from sleep

2.

(often foll by up) to rouse or become roused from inactivity

3.

(intransitive; often foll by to or up to) to become conscious or aware: at last he woke to the situation

4.

(intransitive) to be or remain awake

5.

(transitive) to arouse (feelings etc)

6.

(dialect) to hold a wake over (a corpse)

7.

(archaic or dialect) to keep watch over

8.

(informal) wake up and smell the coffee, to face up to reality, especially in an unpleasant situation

noun

9.

a watch or vigil held over the body of a dead person during the night before burial

10.

(in Ireland) festivities held after a funeral

11.

the patronal or dedication festival of English parish churches

12.

a solemn or ceremonial vigil

13.

(usually pl) an annual holiday in any of various towns in northern England, when the local factory or factories close, usually for a week or two weeks

14.

(rare) the state of being awake

Derived Forms

waker, noun

Usage note

Where there is an object and the sense is the literal one wake (up) and waken are the commonest forms: I wakened him; I woke him (up). Both verbs are also commonly used without an object: I woke up. Awake and awaken are preferred to other forms of wake where the sense is a figurative one: he awoke to the danger

Word Origin

Old English wacian; related to Old Frisian wakia, Old High German wahtēn

wake2

/weɪk/

noun

1.

the waves or track left by a vessel or other object moving through water

2.

the track or path left by anything that has passed: wrecked houses in the wake of the hurricane

wake

"to become awake," Old English wacan "to become awake," also from wacian "to be or remain awake," both from Proto-Germanic *waken (cf. Old Saxon wakon, Old Norse vaka, Danish vaage, Old Frisian waka, Dutch waken, Old High German wahhen, German wachen "to be awake," Gothic wakan "to watch"), from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively" (cf. Sanskrit vajah "force, swiftness, race, prize," vajayati "drives on;" Latin vegere, vigere "to be live, be active, quicken," vigil "awake, wakeful," vigor "liveliness, activity"). Causative sense "to rouse from sleep" is attested from c.1300. Related: Waked; waking. Phrase wake-up call is attested from 1976, originally a call one received from the hotel desk in the morning.

n.

"track left by a moving ship," 1540s, perhaps from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch wake "hole in the ice," from Old Norse vok, vaka "hole in the ice," from Proto-Germanic *wakwo. The sense perhaps evolved via "track made by a vessel through ice." Perhaps the English word is directly from Scandinavian. Figurative phrase in the wake of "following close behind" is recorded from 1806.

"state of wakefulness," Old English -wacu (as in nihtwacu "night watch"), related to watch; and partly from Old Norse vaka "vigil, eve before a feast," related to vaka "be awake" (cf. Old High German wahta "watch, vigil," Middle Dutch wachten "to watch, guard;" see wake (v.)). Meaning "a sitting up at night with a corpse" is attested from early 15c. (the verb in this sense is recorded from mid-13c.). The custom largely survived as an Irish activity. Wakeman (c.1200), which survives as a surname, was Middle English for "watchman."

wake definition

A funeral celebration, common in Ireland, at which the participants stay awake all night keeping watch over the body of the dead person before burial. A wake traditionally involves a good deal of feasting and drinking.